Fast Future - The Shape of Jobs to Come - Full Report

Description

Foresight study exploring key jobs and professions that could emerge by 2030 as a result of advances in science and technology. Examines critical driving forces in society and a timeline of key science and technology developments out to 2030.

3 The shape of jobs to come Executive Summary Purpose of the Study The purpose of this report is to highlight examples of the kinds of jobs, careers and professions that could result from advances in science and technology in the period from 2010 to 2030. The report was commissioned as part of the Science: [So what? So everything] campaign which aims to promote public interest in science and engineering and highlight their importance to the UK‘s future. Science: [So what? So everything] is funded by the Department for Business Innovation and Skills and supported by a wide range of individuals and organisations. To help identify and understand the jobs of the future, the study has undertaken a short science and technology ‗horizon scanning‘ exercise. The aim was to identify a sample of key science and technology trends and developments that could occur over the next twenty years and create a timeline highlighting when such developments may come to maturity. An Era of Opportunity The study highlights that we are entering a new era for science and technology. The combination of rising public understanding of and trust in science, the benefits being felt across all aspects of our lives and the rapid pace of advances being made across a number of new disciplines are helping to raise prominence in the public domain. For the longer term, the centrality of science and technology in helping to tackle the most pressing planetary challenges from poverty to clean water, environment to human health, climate change to energy supply and housing to transport are ensuring that science and technology are at the heart of the sustainable development debate. New Markets New Jobs Commercially, it is clear that science and technology can spur innovation, transform existing industries, create new business models and give birth to entire new sectors – underpinning the economic importance to developed and developing economies alike. The scale of potential impact has led to a massive increase in science funding from the public and private sector globally. This increased funding is fuelling the growth of opportunities to work in existing disciplines, in emerging sectors and in the jobs of the future which will result from developments on the horizon. New Issues New Debates The scope of this study was focused on presenting a representative spectrum of future science and technology developments and highlighting the kinds of jobs that could emerge as a result. We recognise that many of these developments could be considered contentious. Naturally, serious consideration will be required of the broader societal implications of these developments. Lively public debate must take place around important areas of potential concern such as nano-technology, human enhancement and Genetically Modified (GM) foods. The report has not attempted to prejudge or deliver verdicts on such key issues - however the possible future jobs identified in this report do illustrate some aspects of the potential impact of science on our lives.

4 The shape of jobs to come - Survey Findings A process of consultation was used to identify an initial long list of future jobs from which twenty were selected and profiled. These profiles formed the basis of an online survey. The survey focused on assessing the popularity, job impact, environmental impact, educational benefits, developing country benefits, financial rewards and attractiveness of the twenty jobs. The survey attracted 486 responses from 58 countries on 6 continents – including 104 from the UK – representing 21% of the total sample. The highlights of the survey are that: ‗Old Age Wellness Manager / Consultant‘ was considered the most popular career choice both globally (41%) and amongst UK respondents (34%). This was the role expected to create the most jobs – being selected by 48% of global respondents and 49% from the UK ‗Quarantine Enforcer‘ was considered the least popular career choice both globally (50%) and in the UK (48%) ‗Climate Change Reversal Specialist‘ is expected to deliver the greatest environmental benefits both globally (71%) and by UK respondents (70%) The role expected to deliver the greatest benefit to human health and wellbeing was also ‗Old Age Wellness Manager / Consultant‘ – gaining the support of 69% globally and 73% in the UK ‗Pharmer of Genetically Engineered Crops and Livestock‘ was considered the role most likely to deliver benefits to developing economies by global respondents (54%) and those from the UK (61%) ‗Alternative Vehicle Developers‘ were expected to make the greatest contribution to driving commercial innovation and economic growth – gaining support from 52% globally and 51% of UK respondents The role considered likely to be the best paid globally was ‗Nano-Medic‘ (45%), whilst in the UK the preferred option was ‗Virtual Lawyer‘ (59%) ‗Space Pilots, Architects and Tour Guides‘ were considered the most aspirational roles amongst respondent globally (48%) and in the UK (43%) When asked to select the role that would have the most impact on their domestic economy, the most popular choice both globally (37%) and in the UK (41%) was ‗Pharmer of Genetically Engineered Crops and Livestock‘. The top five roles that respondents would most like to see materialise were: ‗Old Age Wellness Manager / Consultant‘ ‗Vertical Farmer‘ ‗Nano-Medic‘ ‗Climate Change Reversal Specialist‘ ‗New Scientists Ethicist‘ The five roles that respondents would least like to see materialise were: ‗Quarantine Enforcer‘ ‗Personal Brander‘ ‗Pharmer of Genetically Engineered Crops and Livestock‘ ‗Weather Modification Police‘ ‗Climate Change Reversal Specialist‘.

5 The response to the global survey suggests these roles can individually and in various combinations make a significant contribution to tackling the care challenges of an ageing society, feeding a growing population and maintaining and enhancing our health. They are also seen as essential to giving us greener mobility solutions and reducing the impact of dangerous climate change. Finally they are expected to help us survive and thrive in the cyberworld, whether through legal protection, counselling or management of our virtual data and ‘personal brand image‘. As a result, the survey suggests that many of these roles will be popular, well-rewarded and aspirational. Assessing the Implications A number of prominent futurists were invited to comment on the implications of these new roles for governments, businesses and society. The futurists emphasised the need to encourage a mindset shift and facilitate the change in all our thinking and in our education systems in particular to bring about such new roles. Equally important was recognition of the critical role of commercial viability in determining which areas of science and which careers will progress. Finally, specific fields which were expected drive significant job creation were the shift to a low carbon economy, artificial intelligence, augmented reality, social media, personalisation and the opening up of space as a commercial opportunity. Conclusions We hope that this report acts as a useful stimulus for raising public interest in and discussion of the key role science and technology will play in shaping the world around us and in creating new jobs and career opportunities over the next twenty years. Target audiences for this material include students of all ages, parents, teachers and those who might want to retrain for a new career. The aim is to encourage children and young people in particular to research forthcoming science and technology developments, imagine the kinds of jobs they will create and explore how these developments could help tackle a number of the ‗grand challenges‘ facing our planet.

6 1. Introduction and Objectives The purpose of this report is to highlight examples of the kinds of jobs, careers and professions that could result from advances in science and technology in the period from 2010 to 2030. The report was commissioned as part of the Science: [So what? So everything] campaign which aims to promote public interest in science and engineering and highlight their importance to our future. The specific objectives were to: Conduct a brief ‗horizon scan‘ to identify a sample of key advances in science and technology that are anticipated in the period from 2010 to 2030 Develop a timeline indicating the timeframes in which these developments might come to maturity Identify a long list of ‗jobs of the future‘ - highlighting ‗Jobs that don‘t yet Exist‘ and current jobs that could become more prominent over the next two decades as a result of these advances Develop more detailed profiles of a representative sample of twenty jobs – highlighting what a ‗day in the life‘ of these professions might involve Invite a global audience of future thinkers to assess the value, impact and attractiveness of these twenty roles using an online survey. 1.1 Report Structure The report is presented in seven main sections and five appendices: Section 1 – Introduction and Objectives - Here we outline the rationale for the report and explain the methodology adopted. Section 2 – The World in 2030 - Explores ten major patterns of change that will shape our world over the coming two decades, identifies some of the resulting opportunities and implications for science and technology and introduces a non-exhaustive list of 110 future jobs that could emerge as a result. Section 3 – The Science and Technology Horizon - Provides a short introduction to the key areas of science and technology development that were examined to help identify ‗The shape of jobs to come‘. Section 4 – The shape of jobs to come - Explains how the list of 110 jobs was compiled and presents the profiles of a ‗day in the life‘ of a representative sample of twenty jobs that highlight the range and nature of the opportunities that are emerging. Section 5 – Global Survey Findings - Presents the findings of a global survey that was run to assess future thinkers‘ views on the impact and implications of the sample of twenty jobs. Section 6 – The shape of jobs to come – Key Implications – Presents the views of a range of futurists from around the world on the implications of these developments and job opportunities and how best to prepare for the resulting changes we face in the coming decades. Section 7 - Conclusions - Draws some brief conclusions from the study.

7 Appendix 1 - The World in 2030 Background Data - Provides short descriptions of the key underlying trends and developments for the ten patterns of change presented in section 2. Appendix 2 – The Science and Technology Horizon- Key Trends - Presents a short overview of a representative selection of key trends in each of the areas of science and technology that were examined for this report. Appendix 3 – The Science and Technology Timeline 2010 – 2030 - Sets out a development timeline, showing the earliest point at which these fields of endeavour might reach maturity. Appendix 4 – The shape of jobs to come – Long List - Presents short summaries of the 110 future jobs that were identified as part of this study. Appendix 5 – Survey Respondents - Identifies the full list of countries that took part and the number of respondents by country. 1.2 Science and Technology for a World in Transition To some, the tail end of an economic downturn might seem like an odd time to be taking an imaginative look forward at The shape of jobs to come as a result of science and technology advances over the next two decades. However, an alternative view is that now is the perfect time to focus on the positive opportunities and developments that could lead us into recovery, create new professions and help shape a powerful vision of what can be achieved through investment in science and technology excellence in the coming decades. As nations across the globe emerge from the economic crises, there is a growing focus on choosing the right levers to pull in order to restore confidence, restart economic growth and steer the planet on a path towards sustainable development. As a result, there has been a clear emphasis on the role of science and technology in shaping and sustaining the recovery. For example new monitoring systems and complexity management tools are seen as critical to establishing better regulatory control of the banking system. Beyond fixing the causes of the current crisis, perhaps an even more important role is that envisaged for science and technology in facilitating growth by providing a stream of advances and innovations across every sector. These developments will lead to the transformation of many industries such as car manufacture and spawn new sectors such as nano-chemistry, quantum computing and integrative fields such as the much vaunted NBIC convergence (nanotechnology-biotechnology-information technology-cognitive science). Perhaps most critical of all is the role science and technology is expected to play in solving the challenges facing an increasingly interconnected and co-dependent world. Governments globally are increasingly challenged by the issues of feeding a growing planet, educating our children, providing new housing solutions, delivering alternative clean energy sources, solving our need for efficient transport, ensuring our security and tackling dangerous climate change. Science and technology are seen as central to providing effective, affordable and sustainable solutions to all of these challenges and more. The good news is that governments are not simply stacking these challenges up at the laboratory door and walking away with hope as their only strategy for how to address them! Across the world, science and technology has been a major recipient of funding in government economic stimulus packages. Examples included 900M Euros (£831M) in Germany, 731M Euros (£675M) in France and 685M Euros (£632M) in Norway. A significant proportion of China‘s 10Tn Yuan (£0.9Tn, 1Tn Euros, US$1.5Tn) stimulus package was also

8 channelled into science and technology investment.1 ‗Green‘ technologies and solutions have also received significant support – particularly from East Asian governments. Notable examples include South Korea, which is apparently allocating 81% of its recovery funds to green initiatives and China, which is setting aside 34% for eco-projects.2 At the same time, Japan has targeted a doubling of the number of green sector jobs to 2.8 million over the period from 2008 to 2020.3 Governments, corporations and investors alike are recognising that science and technology innovation can drive growth, create new jobs and facilitate wealth creation. The investments being made are creating well funded facilities in research centres and laboratories around the world. Furthermore, technology itself is facilitating collaboration between scientists across the globe on an unprecedented scale. We are also entering an era where science and technology will assume far greater prominence in our lives and will play a more central role in everything we do. As a result, society‘s expectations will be raised as to how effectively and how quickly science and technology can meet our ever expanding needs and desires and tackle persistent problems for humanity and the environment. The combination of global need, funding and societal expectations makes this a tremendous time to be considering a career in one of the many existing science and technology disciplines that exist today and those new professions that will emerge in the coming decades. This horizon scanning report seeks to provide initial insights into some of the domains of science and technology that will open up to those that want to go into the field. Equally importantly, the report tries to bring to life what these new roles might involve. 1.3. Study Methodology The project was conducted between mid-August and early October 2009. The first phase involved horizon scanning to identify potentially key science and technology trends and developments for the next two decades. The aim was to draw on a wide range of authoritative sources citing well referenced examples of science and technology developments on the horizon. As such, extensive use was made of the UK Government Horizon Scanning Centre (HSC)4 outputs – most notably the Delta and Sigma horizon scans of emerging trends and developments. Other key sources used extensively included MIT‘s Technology Review5 , the BT Technology Timeline6 and TechCast7 – an acknowledged resource pooling expert knowledge on science and technology forecasts. This scan resulted in the list of trends and the timeline presented in appendices 2 and 3. In addition, an initial long list of 110 future jobs was identified and profiled in brief. A short list of ten jobs were then selected and shared for review with colleagues in the Association of Professional Futurists. The list was also presented to Fast Future‘s own global network. This comprises over 20,000 people from a variety of professions and sectors who have an interest in the trends and factors shaping our future. Both groups were asked to provide their comments on the list of ten jobs and identify additional jobs that might be created in future as a result of advances in science and technology. The long list of future jobs was refined and expanded with the feedback received. A list of twenty jobs were then selected as being representative of the breadth, scope and impact of the jobs that would be created or become more prominent in the future. An online survey was then run from August 12th -21st 2009. The survey attracted 486 responses from 58 countries on 6 continents. Of these 65% were male and 35% female.

9 Survey respondents were asked to evaluate the attractiveness and impact in a variety of fields from human health to the environment. Survey participants were also asked to provide their views on what a day in the life of these roles might involve and to suggest additional roles they could see emerging in the coming two decades. The invitation to take part in the survey was distributed to Fast Future‘s global network and promoted via various social networks and to the mailing lists of a number of fellow futurists.

10 2. The World in 2030 To help set the context for this review of emerging science and technology developments, it is important to look at the range of trends, forces, developments and ideas that could shape our world in the period to 2030. In this section we identify ten major patterns of change which will have an important bearing on everything from governance systems to the food we eat. We explore the opportunities and implications for science and technology resulting from these patterns of change and introduce the jobs that could emerge as a result. 2.1. The Ten Patterns of Change In a short study of this nature it was not possible or appropriate to conduct an original horizon scan of factors shaping the next two decades. Instead we chose to adopt an existing scanning framework which we use and keep updated on a continuous basis. This framework takes the key global trends and developments shaping our world and groups them under the following ten key patterns of change1 : 1. Demographic Shifts 2. Economic Turbulence 3. Politics Gets Complex 4. Business 3.0 – An Expanding Agenda 5. Science and Technology go Mainstream 6. Generational Crossroads 7. Rethinking Talent, Education and Training 8. Global Expansion of Electronic Media 9. A Society in Transition 10. Natural Resource Challenges A brief description of the key features of each pattern of change is presented in Table 1 below. A short summary of the key underlying trends is presented at Appendix 1. Each of these patterns of change, or ‗drivers‘, is a strong and influential force in its own right. However, it is the interactions between them that generate both opportunity and challenge. For example, the rising living standards being achieved by Asia‘s growing population is clearly something to be strived for. The challenge is the pressure this places on natural resources and the planet‘s ability to service these demands. Investment in science and technology is seen a critical to achieving sustainable growth and development. When we layer in the economic, political and societal dimension, we see just how complex the interconnection is between the patterns of change. Collectively, an analysis of these drivers tells us that the world in 2030 will see significant economic and political power shifts. Indeed, we can envisage many possible scenarios for exactly what the global economic, political, social, environmental and scientific landscape will be. However, whilst scenario development was beyond the scope of this study, we can posit a number of likely features of what might be considered the ‗central‘ or expected scenario in 2030: 1 The ten patterns of change were developed on a project commissioned by the American Society of Association Executives and the Center for Association Leadership. The resulting book – Designing your Future – Key Trends, Challenges and Choices for Association and Nonprofit Leaders was published in August 2008.

11 Economic Further economic turbulence and potential downturns between 2010 – 2020, followed by a more stable period to 2030 as excessive risks have been removed from the financial markets and most economies have repaired their finances Sustainable growth is still the dominant driver for most economies China could be the biggest global economy and India the fourth largest Public sector debt has been a major issue until at least 2020 for developed economies in particular Globalisation and interconnectivity between companies and value chains will continue to increase Major new industry sectors emerge as a result of advances in science and technology Political No major new multi-nation global conflicts National geographic boundaries of the current G20 economies are largely similar to today Global institutions such as the UN, IMF and World Bank still carry influence – although other strong institutions now exist on a regional basis n Asia, Africa the Middle East and Latin America Security, environment and sustainability challenges remain prominent concerns Socio-Demographic A global population of 8.3 billion, with 723 million in Europe and 68 million in the UK8 Global social challenges remain around poverty, hunger, health and education Environmental Alternative (non-nuclear) energy sources will be common in vehicles, homes and businesses – supplying 20-40% of all demand in most developed economies Demand for food and energy are expected to jump 50% compared with 2009 levels9 Fresh water demand could rise 30% on 2009 levels10 Without adaptation to the impacts of climate change, Southern Africa could see declines in production of 15% for wheat and 27% for maize11 Science and Technology Advances in flight technology have shortened travel times Scientific progress and new technological advances continue to accelerate (e.g. biotechnology, nanotechnology, next generation computers). Advances in experiential technologies will lead to widespread use of developments such as virtual worlds, holograms, 3D projection, 3D television, virtual reality and interactive surfaces. The implication of these projected developments and trends is that the demands on science and technology are only like to increase over the period. For those working in these fields, the expectation should be for more public scrutiny of their work, greater accountability and a constant need to demonstrate the economic and social benefits of the particular field of science and technology being pursued.

12 2.2. Identifying the Opportunities – Implications for Science and Technology For each of these patterns of change, there are a range of opportunities which can be addressed through science and technology advances and a number of resulting implications for scientists, technologists and society as a whole. Some examples of these key opportunities and implications are highlighted in the second column of Table 1 below. Column three sets out an attempt to map the long list of 110 future jobs from Appendix 4 to the ten patterns of change, and the resulting opportunities and implications. A source reference and explanation is provided for all of these roles in Appendix 4. Clearly each job could be mapped against more than one of the opportunity and implication clusters.

16 Global Change Driver / Description High Impact Opportunities and Implications for Science and Technology (S&T) Possible Future Jobs judgement Generational Crossroads Increasing lifespans require people to work past retirement age Five generations in the workforce for the first time Marked differences across generations - needs, expectations, communications styles, technology preferences, values and world views Challenge of managing multi- generational workforces Talent gap posed by retirement of Baby Boomers (born 1946 – 64) S&T may provide solutions to facilitate improved cross-generational working Tools required to help and support people working past retirement (e.g. translators to help interpret language of younger colleagues) Science can provide better understanding of physiological and chemical differences between brain functions and thought patterns of different generations Virtual world simulations could help in training staff to work with different generations Personal Enhancement Advisors Memory Augmentation Surgeon Mind Reading Specialist Intelligent Agent Designers and Managers Virtual Personal Shopper/Shopping Assistant Social 'Networking' Worker Socialization/Culturalization Therapists Rethinking Talent, Education and Training Growing talent gap Education a critical priority for developing nations Rising concerns over educational performance in some countries Increasing importance of Major growth in numbers of S&T teachers, lecturers and researchers required New insights in how we learn will drive development of accelerated learning solutions and enable fare greater personalisation of learning – particularly online ICT seen as critical to closing educational gap for developing economies and providing access to learning in remote areas Virtual worlds and simulations seen as critical to Avatar Manager / Devotees Human to Machine Interface Controller I Knowledge Guide Cybrarians Personal Learning Programmer Enhanced Games Specialist Memetics Manager/Analyst/Trader/Generator

19 3. The Science and Technology Horizon 3.1. Scope of Science and Technology Horizon Scanning The horizon scanning undertaken for this study focused on identifying examples of key trends and of the kinds of developments taking place across a number of dimensions of the science and technology spectrum. In addition key contextual trends were scanned to get a sense of key changes happening in the world in which these advances are taking place. The horizon scanned trends and developments are presented in Appendix 1. Clearly there are a wide range of domains that could have been covered. Given the short duration of the study we chose to focus on the following areas - trends related to science policy, medicine, biology and biogenetics, energy, the environment, nanotechnology, manufacturing, information and communications technology, internet and the virtual world, artificial intelligence, robotics, transportation, space, demographics, culture and leisure and politics, economic and commerce. The material used is drawn from a wide range of authoritative sources which in turn cite well referenced examples of science and technology developments on the horizon. As such, extensive use was made of the UK Government Horizon Scanning Centre (HSC) outputs – most notably the Delta and Sigma horizon scans of emerging trends and developments. Other key sources used extensively included MIT‘s Technology Review, the BT Technology Timeline and TechCast – an acknowledged resource pooling expert knowledge on science and technology forecasts. Where possible we have tried to republish and remain true to the source definition of the trend or development – except where we feel further clarification, paraphrasing or expansion is required. Summarised in Table 2 below are the fields of endeavour we focused on and the range of topics considered in the scanning. Table 2 – Key Fields Addressed through Horizon Scanning Field Topics Explored Science Policy, Strategy and Funding Growing prominence and diffusion of science Globalisation of science funding and standards Convergence on a ‗Theory of Everything‘ Medicine, Biology and Biogenetics Personalised medicine and human enhancement NBIC convergence Synthetic biology, biological machines, systems biology and synthetic chemistry Gene therapy and stem cells Biomechatronics, neuroprosthetics and bionics Electronic health management Virtual reality education Health risks Energy Demand, supply and investment forecasts Alternative energy sources Smart Grids and decentralised energy systems New Battery technologies Environment Consumption and urbanisation trends Food demand and GM food

21 4. The shape of jobs to come As explained in section 1.3. above, desk research was carried out to identify an initial long list of future jobs and current jobs that might grow in prominence. These were reviewed with members of the Association of Professional Futurists and Fast Future‘s global network. As a result, the long list was extended and number of job profiles refined. A representative list of twenty jobs was then agreed with the client. These were selected on the basis of being representative of the breadth, scope and impact of the jobs that would be created or become more prominent in the future. An online survey was then run to evaluate the attractiveness and value of these jobs (see section 5 for survey findings). Participants also provided input that was used to help develop the ‗day in the life‘ summary for each of the jobs presented below. For each job, the following information is presented: A short description An assessment as to when it might possibly emerge and be ‗accepted‘ as a recognised profession (e.g. have its own association or section within an existing body), and A day in the life of that professional. For each job we have also provided a reference indicating where the original title was sourced from or the individual who proposed it. The twenty jobs were selected to cover a range of activities from pure science driven roles such a ‗nano-medic‘ through to those which help us deal with the impact of technology on our lives such as a ‗virtual clutter organiser‘. The roles also cover a range of discipliners from healthcare to farming, personal services to environment protection and policing to education. The twenty jobs are listed below and described on the following pages. 1. Body Part Maker 2. Nano-Medic 3. Pharmer of Genetically Engineered Crops and Livestock 4. Old Age Wellness Manager / Consultant Specialists 5. Memory Augmentation Surgeon 6. ‗New Science‘ Ethicist 7. Space Pilots, Architects and Tour Guides 8. Vertical Farmers 9. Climate Change Reversal Specialist 10. Quarantine Enforcer 11. Weather Modification Police 12. Virtual Lawyer 13. Avatar Manager / Devotees - Virtual Teachers 14. Alternative Vehicle Developers 15. Narrowcasters 16. Waste Data Handler 17. Virtual Clutter Organizer 18. Time Broker / Time Bank Trader 19. Social 'Networking' Worker 20. Personal Branders

22 1. Body Part Maker12 Due to the huge advances being made in bio-tissues, robotics and plastics, the creation of high performing body parts - from organs to limbs - will soon be possible, requiring body part makers, body part stores and body part repair shops. Possible Emergence as a Profession: 2020 A Day in the Life A day would typically start with scanning the most critical or urgent new requests for repairs and complete body parts, and checking on component deliveries to help schedule the day‘s work plan. Requests would be reviewed to determine whether entire limbs or organs were required or just component subsystems (e.g. a new kneecap) and where multiple copies were required e.g. for athletes and soldiers returning to combat. A visit to the incubator would follow to check on the progress of body parts currently being ‗grown‘ and to perform staged quality control tests of all existing growth culture batches. Starting new growth batches would be the next priority. The body part maker works with computer aided design, including online DNA modelling and biomechanical simulations, DNA encoding and DNA modification. A core skill is the selection and combination of biological materials to grow organ parts on "scaffolding", which is also modelled by the body part maker, based on computer-generated templates. While a typical organ such as a liver or kidney might be grown, other parts such as an arm would involve the complex integration of a nano-engineered skeleton, high performance robotic joints, fibre-optic nerves, artificially grown skin, synthetic flesh and muscles. Much of the day would be spent working at the laboratory bench designing and assembling body parts and testing their performance under various conditions as specified by the owner. Throughout the day the body part maker would be engaged in video conferences with surgeons around the world to discuss their requirements, provide advice on appropriate body part design and review the results of past body part replacement surgeries. Dedicated time would also be set aside to review the latest information on new techniques and research provided by the body part maker‘s professional association.

23 2. Nano-Medic13 Advances in nanotechnology offer the potential for a range of sub-atomic 'nanoscale' devices, inserts and procedures that could transform personal healthcare. A new range of nano-medicine specialists will be required to administer these treatments. Possible Emergence as a Profession: 2025 A Day in the Life Applications for nanomedicine range from body part replacement through to tissue repair and gene therapy. A typical day for a skilled nanomedic might include patient consultation, time in surgery, ward rounds, review of past surgeries, complex modelling to devise appropriate nano-solutions, work in the laboratory to grow and engineer suitable nanomaterials, teaching and continuous professional development. A Nano-medic would typically work as part of team on rotating shifts, and be on call. Training is extensive and involves study of the human physiology, traditional medicine, the science underpinning nanotechnology, and the effects of nano materials in humans. Because of the range of emerging applications of nano techniques and technologies, Nano- medics would need a deep understanding of the biological, chemical, electrical, magnetic, mechanical and optical properties of nanomaterials and of the human body. This would need to be coupled with a deep understanding of information processing and cognitive mechanisms in the human body. This multi-disciplinary expertise will be critical to engineering nano-medical solutions that perform as well or better than the organs or body parts being repaired. Typically, a Nano-medic might be part of an expert team in one of a handful of specialist nanomedicine centres around the country. Individual team members might specialise in particular areas such as nano materials and tissues, cancer diagnostics and treatment, drug delivery or computational modelling of nano-medical interventions. Patient conferences on nanomedical interventions might typically involve specialists joining in via video link from a range of remote locations.

24 3. Pharmer of Genetically Engineered Crops and Livestock14 Pharmers are the next generation of farmers who will raise crops and livestock that have been genetically engineered to improve food yields and ‗grow‘ therapeutic proteins, pharmaceuticals and chemicals. Possible Emergence as a Profession: 2015 A Day in the Life The day begins with supervising the changeover of the security teams from the night shift, scrutinising the CCTV monitoring systems and the automated event and monitoring logs, which record the status of each crop or group of livestock. Each crop or animal would then be evaluated for progress against the relevant supply contract and treatments would be adjusted accordingly. Data is fed back automatically on each "crop" or animal to the food processor, abattoir, distributor, pharmaceutical company or chemical firm who will be the next step in the value chain. Sophisticated computer models that draw information on temperature, atmospheric conditions and plant health from an array of biosensors will be used to determine harvesting of crops. This morning, we see that the GM "cancer cure" sunflowers have made good progress and our models suggest they are on track for harvest and processing tomorrow - quality and quarantine processes need to be implemented today in preparation. Pharmers may come from a variety of backgrounds including chemical sciences, pharmaceuticals, medicine, and even traditional farmers who have retrained in the relevant scientific disciplines.

25 4. Old Age Wellness Manager / Consultant Specialists15 Drawing on a range of medical, pharmaceutical, prosthetic, psychiatric, and natural fitness solutions to help manage the various health and personal needs of the aging population. Emergence as a Profession: 2010 A Day in the Life The wellness manager will bridge the clients‘ needs for medical care, housing, transport, training, skills development and social care, as well as managing quality of life and providing financial advice. In order to stay up to date, our wellness specialist dedicates up to 20% of their time to researching and learning about all the latest developments that could benefit their practice. These could encompass new pensions legislation, exercise and diet regimes, medical advances and new psychotherapeutic interventions. A typical day might start with video and telephone conversations with clients who are on a retainer and who require regular coaching, guidance and motivation. The core of our specialist‘s time is spent consulting with, advising and treating existing and prospective clients. Although some clients are happy for all services to be provided via video link and other virtual mechanisms, the bulk place a value on human contact and hence prefer face-to-face consultations. Our consultant makes a number of home visits but also likes to see patients in their consulting rooms where more specialist diagnostics and treatments can be performed. Groups of self-employed wellness specialists may share treatment rooms. They may also have shared administrative support to perform a range of tasks for clients ranging from ordering the weekly groceries through to liaising with medical services and performing personal banking. Wellness management networks may spring up where each consultant has a particular specialty such as medical care, exercise, coaching and financial advice. The nature of the work means that hours could be long, with home visits being performed at the start and end of the day for clients who are still working. The consultant‘s personal background and qualifications will determine the range of services they can perform. Hence those who are not medically trained may need to work in partnership with medical specialists to provide the full range of services required by clients. Others may have qualified through new models of medical training that enable them to perform certain medical tasks and interventions such as drug prescribing. While some clients may pay for themselves, others may receive the service as part of their retirement package or as part of the support provided to enable them to carry on working past normal retirement age.

26 5. Memory Augmentation Surgeon16 This is a new category of surgeons whose role is to add extra memory to people who want to increase their memory capacity. A key service would be helping those who have literally been overloaded with information in the course of their life and simply can no longer take on any more data - thus leading to sensory shutdown. Possible Emergence as a Profession: 2030 A Day in the Life A memory surgeon would be able to work as much or as little as they wanted. Whilst most would work privately, some would be employed by public health services to help those in the greatest need who cannot afford treatment themselves. Leading companies will increasingly hire such surgeons to enhance the capabilities of their top performers, and raise the standards of the entire workforce. A typical day would involve consultation with prospective patients – including review of an extensive battery of cognitive, psychological, neurological and emotional tests. These will help determine if a patient is suitable for treatment and the appropriate interventions to make. Each intervention would be designed using sophisticated computer modelling tools and would need to be peer reviewed by two other memory augmentation surgeons and submitted for approval by the Neurological Augmentation Authority before treatment can be performed. Typical patients could be in surgery for many hours given the complex nature of the procedures involved. Considerable time will be spent communicating with data information filter specialists, security experts, and consultants on issues such as the design of virus protection and personal human firewalls. Surgeons would be expected to undertake continuous professional development, stay abreast of the latest thinking and practice in their field and have their performance reviewed and qualifications renewed regularly. Surgeons will have to be part of a professional association and pay a significant annual contribution to association research and marketing budgets. The association will play a key role in financing original research, promoting the profession, trying to address the ethical outcry and influencing the debate around memory enhancement. The leading surgeons will command six figures or more for a single surgery and will be popular figures in the media. Memory augmentation surgeons will have the highest insurance premiums of any medical practitioner – with an occupational hazard being the risk of being sued for memory loss.

27 6. ‘New Science' Ethicist17 As scientific advances accelerate in new and emerging fields such as cloning, proteomics and nanotechnology, a new breed of ethicist may be required. These science ethicists will need to understand a range of underlying scientific fields and help society make consistent choices about what developments to allow. Much of science will not be a question of can we, but should we. Possible Emergence as a Profession: 2015 A Day in the Life Science ethicists may come from a range of fields including the new sciences, ethics, philosophy, religious studies, sociology and journalism. The field will be quite widely spread – ranging from essayists to those who focus more on classroom teaching or helping governments, scientists and corporations make tough choices about the bounds of acceptable practice in each discipline. Much of the ethicist‘s work will involve extensive study of the underlying disciplines and the arguments for and against development in each field. Regular physical and virtual meetings will take place with leading scientific practitioners, government legislators, corporate representatives and lawyers. Ethicists may also visit the R&D centres where the research is taking place to form first hand opinions on the advances under discussion. Participation in live and virtual lectures, workshops and public debates will be common. Some ethicists may be funded by government and / or corporations. Their role will be to take the ethical debate into schools and universities to help students understand the issues. For students and society as whole, a responsibility for ethicists will be to equip citizens with the decision making tools to enable them to evaluate the ethical challenges posed by scientific advances in a rational and consistent manner. Some ethicists may have academic tenure. A more controversial possibility is the idea of contract ethicists who hire themselves out to science companies to help them anticipate ethical challenges and frame their offerings in the most ethically acceptable light.

28 7. Space Pilots, Architects and Tour Guides18 With Virgin Galactic and others pioneering space tourism, space trained pilots and tour guides will be needed alongside architectural designers to enable the habitation of space and the planets. Current architectural projects at the Sasakawa International Center for Space Architecture (SICSA) at the University of Houston include a greenhouse on Mars, lunar outposts and space exploration vehicles19 . Possible Emergence as a Profession: 2015 A Day in the Life Initial developments in space tourism will involve two to three hour sub-orbital flights. This will gradually develop into longer trips – possibly extending to flights lasting several days or weeks for a visit to an orbiting space station or a distant planet. On the day of each flight, pilots will undergo rigorous health and psychological checks to ensure they are fit to travel. The next stage will be an exhaustive visual and automated programme of technical and security checks with the engineering team. The passenger manifold will be discussed in detail with the entire in-flight crew to understand exactly who is on board. Space flight is likely to remain the domain of the very wealthy for some time to come – everyone will believe himself or herself to be a VIP! The flight itself will be handled largely by autopilot for most of the journey but the pilot and co-pilot will need to be fully in command throughout the trip. Flight rosters will typically involve extensive rest periods during and after each trip. Even days off will include regular physical and mental strength exercises to ensure the pilot is able to deal with the stresses of frequent space travel. SICSA currently offers the only Masters of Science in Space Architecture. SICSA explains that Space Architects, like their earthbound counterparts, must address ―the total built environment, not just its component elements and systems.‖ Hence designing solutions for space involves ―a broad understanding of the issues and requirements that impact overall planning and design success. Important considerations include: influences of unique conditions of the space environment upon construction processes and material options; physiological, psychological, and sociological impacts of isolation and stress; and human factors design issues associated with human adaptation and performance in weightless and partial-gravity habitats.‖20 A space architect‘s customers could include governments, private developers, manufacturers and, in time, firms such as banks, hotel groups and retailers. Space tour guides will draw on cosmology, astronomy, space science, geography, history and geology to help passengers get the most out of their journey. While the factual side of the tour is important, space guides also need to be excellent storytellers and imaginers to help inspire their charges and encourage them to experience the true awe of space travel. Regular tour guides will need to undergo a similar level of physical and mental preparation and testing as pilots before each trip.

29 8. Vertical Farmers21 There is growing interest in the concept of city based vertical farms, with hydroponically fed food being grown under artificial growth-enhancing lighting in multi-storey buildings. These offer the potential to dramatically increase farm yield and reduce environmental degradation. The managers of such entities will require expertise in a range of scientific disciplines, engineering and commerce. Possible Emergence as a Profession: 2015 A Day in the Life Many models can be envisaged for how such farms could be run. One would involve a professional farm manager supported by a mix of human and robotic farm hands and specialist scientists. Another model envisages such farms being part of new community developments with the local residents donating time as farm labour in return for a regular supply of fresh produce and a share of the commercial returns from the farm. A typical day would typically start with monitoring plant health, atmospheric conditions and crop growth. A number of routine daily tasks would be performed including tending the plants, planting, harvesting, irrigating the various plants, waste recycling and maintaining the ventilation equipment and other machinery. Each day, time would be dedicated to working on new developments in special areas of the farm given over to experimentation on new crops and growing techniques. A key element of the farm manager‘s responsibility will be maximizing the commercial returns on the crops planted. Whilst some farms may be owned by or tied to particular retailers, produce wholesalers or food processors, others may operate on an independent basis. Much of the commercial effort will be invested in identifying customers to pre-book capacity or to selling crops on the open market once produced. Once proven, successful farms with a record of achieving high yields may be able to auction their capacity to the highest bidder.

30 9. Climate Change Reversal Specialist22 As the threats and impacts of climate change increase, a new breed of engineer-scientists are required to help reduce or reverse the effects of climate change on particular locations. They need to apply multi-disciplinary solutions ranging from filling the oceans with iron filings to erecting giant umbrellas that deflect the sun's rays. Possible Emergence as a Profession: 2015 A Day in the Life The three most frequent models for engaging a reversal specialist will be firstly as part of a planned long-term strategy on the part of a location to intervene before an anticipated climatic disaster occurs. The second and possibly more common approach will be for specialists to be brought in when a climatic crisis is considered imminent or has started to occur. The third approach will be for our specialists to be brought in ‗after the event‘ to try to help locations that have been devastated by climate change. The strategies adopted will depend on the stage at which the reversal specialist is bought in. These will typically involve changes in carbon-based energy and transport infrastructure, and fine-tuning of existing alternative energy systems. In the physical environment, interventions could include protecting and rebuilding destroyed or damaged ecosystems such as tropical rainforests and ocean beds. A critical aim will be to ensure that the local people benefit from the changes being made. A typical intervention might start with detailed data gathering and assessment on the current situation. In parallel, in-depth discussions would be held with the local citizenry and civic leadership to understand their vision and aspirations for their location. The next stage might involve solution conferences with a range of experts and local citizens to identify and evaluate reversal options. These would typically be modelled and costed and an assessment of the long-term impact and benefits drawn up. A strategy and set of recommendations would then be offered up and the preferred solutions would then be integrated into an implementation plan. Such plans will hinge on the funding and time available to see them through. Where there is time available, a number of experiments may be run to see which option best meets the needs for a sustainable solution – e.g. for ecosystem protection.

31 10. Quarantine Enforcer23 If a deadly virus starts spreading rapidly, few countries, and few people, will be prepared. Doctors and nurses could be in short supply to prevent or treat the problem. Hence, quarantines could be imposed to keep people in or out of particular locations. Moreover, as mortality rates rise and neighbourhoods are shut down, someone will have to guard the gates. Possible Emergence as a Profession: 2030 A Day in the Life The position may be seasonal or full time depending on the nature of the problem, possibly switching from the southern to northern hemisphere as the seasons change. Having to deal with possibly infected people trying to get through the gate and deciding whether to use lethal force to protect everyone that is healthy is stressful. This suggests enforcers will work in frequent short shifts, possibly with robotic help. A key requirement for enforcers will be a strong immune system and the ability to stand up to intense psychological pressures - a common scenario will be family members pleading to be allowed through the gate to see their quarantined loved ones. Hence an enforcer‘s daily routine may include taking a range of vaccines and supplements, a rigorous phys

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